Is NOON written as 12AM or 12PM?

[lissener]

*Originally posted by nonoMAN *
All I’m hearing is a bunch of speculation. . . .

That must be those voices in your head, nono.

Read the OP again: Is NOON written as 12AM or 12PM?

The ANSWER to that question is that, of the two alternatives offered, noon is written 12PM. Sure, it’s also written other ways (“noon,” “1200”) but that doesn’t address the spirit of the question.

There may be people wandering around out there who, in taking a brave stand of individualism against the oppressive clarity of standard English, defiantly write “12AM” when referring to noon; these people are wrong. For that matter, there are also people who manage to get through life with their head lodged firmly in their lower intestine, but we all agree that doesn’t make it a lifestyle choice that has much to recommend it.

[Derleth]

lawoot:
0000 is midnight in official Military Time. Why? 0000 is the first moment of the new day. All time is measured as time elapsed since midnight, therefore midnight is all zeros. I don’t know why anyone would ever use 2400.

[mangeorge]

*Originally posted by nonoMAN *
**All I’m hearing is a bunch of speculation. People have made marginally convincing arguments in both directions. So, I ask you, what source would convince you to change your position? I ask in the hopes of seeing a quoted source other than some alarm clock made in Taiwan for 4cents on the dollar. **

Hey!
Danged alarm clock snobs.
Peace,
mangeorge

[mangeorge]

*Originally posted by nonoMAN *
**All I’m hearing is a bunch of speculation. People have made marginally convincing arguments in both directions. So, I ask you, what source would convince you to change your position? I ask in the hopes of seeing a quoted source other than some alarm clock made in Taiwan for 4cents on the dollar. **

Hey
Danged alarm clock snobs.
Peace,
mangeorge

[Johnny_L.A]

Here is the response I received from the U.S. Naval Observatory (bolding mine):

Designation of Midnight and Noon

There is no official designation that 12:00 Midnight and 12:00 Noon are either AM or PM. Therefore, the U.S. Naval Observatory has adopted the following designations.

12:00 Midnight is AM

**12:00 Noon is PM **

However, for official purposes, it is recommended that the 24 hour system be used, where 00:00:01 is the beginning of the day and 24:00:00 is the end of the day. This is the military definition of the 24 hour system.

Mihran Miranian
Deputy Director
Time Service Department

U.S. Naval Observatory

[lawoot]

*Originally posted by Derleth *
**lawoot:
0000 is midnight in official Military Time. Why? 0000 is the first moment of the new day. All time is measured as time elapsed since midnight, therefore midnight is all zeros. I don’t know why anyone would ever use 2400. **

However, for official purposes, it is recommended that the 24 hour system be used, where 00:00:01 is the beginning of the day and 24:00:00 is the end of the day. This is the military definition of the 24 hour system.

                      Mihran Miranian
                      Deputy Director
                      Time Service Department

                      U.S. Naval Observatory

Well, I guess that’s why

[Kupek]

That actually doesn’t solve anything, since they stated themselves there is no official designation, they just adopted a convention. (I personally stand by noon and midnight not being either, as stated in Cecil’s article on it.)

[Johnny_L.A]

Given that an “instant” is no time; or rather, an "instant is that point (and remember a point has no dimension) at .0(repeating to infinity), exactly noon or midnight have no practical meaning. Since, when asked the time, we usually say “12:00” or “12:01”, for practical purposes 12:00 lasts for a time in instant past 12:00:00(repeating to infinity, plus repeating to infinity plus .0 repeating to infinity, plus… plus 1) until some time that we decide to call the time “12:01”, noon is for practical purposes PM.

nonoMan asked for an authorative quote. I’ve provided one. While the USNO correctly points out that the instants of noon an midnight are neither AM nor PM, they say that as a practical matter 12:00 noon is PM and 12:00 midnight is AM.

they stated themselves there is no official designation

… and they go on to say unequivocally that noon is PM and midnight is AM.

How much more clear do you want it. That’s their official response. Any nitpicking has no practical value since an instant can’t be recognized. Even if you could recognize the exact instant of noon, the impulses in your sensory system take time to pass the information to your brain… and the instant has passed. If you could stop time at the instant of noon, then you would not be able to perceive it because time has stopped.

We all concede that precisely noon and precisely midnight are neither AM nor PM; but as officially recognized, cited, used, and for all practical purposes…

**12:00 Midnight is AM

12:00 Noon is PM **